Marie Antoinette
This page is under construction. A character played by Sarah, based on the historical French Queen Marie Antoinette. Appearance On the 'verse, Marie is described as being 5'2", petite & dainty, with long blonde hair and brown eyes. The brown eyes turned out to be rather erroneous, but the character has been in play for so long that it's too late to RetCon it. In the early days of her life in 'verse Paris, Marie wore clothes and her hair in the style of her own time, but once she was able to procure funds for herself, she adopted the hair and fashion of the current day (late 19th Century). On the 'verse, she is modeled by Kirsten Dunst, who played her in the movie Marie Antoinette. It should be noted, however, that she is not movie!Marie, but rather Marie as her suethor interpreted her. Personality Marie's suethor was admittedly not sure how to portray the former Queen at first, and for a while she very cautiously played her as a regular, proper woman who had been the center of things not-so-regular. Eventually, Sarah stopped being so chicken about the Queen's characterization and slowly developed her into so much more: while Marie could certainly be quite the courtly lady, she was also shown to be quite clever and capable of the same amount of scheming as Richard III. She's quite amiable toward others, with a soft smile and a laugh to match. Taking a page out of the real Marie's book, Sarah also portrays her having a great fondness and love for children (especially her own). Pre-'verse History Bless your heart, Wikipedia It is a well-known fact that Marie died on the guillotine. But thanks to a very different version of France, this death turned out to not be the end, but the mark of the beginning of a new life. In this AU of France Marie's arrival in 'verse France was rather quiet and painless--restored back to life and health from the state she was in prior to her execution, she woke up in a brilliant rose garden in Paris, finding that she was not only strong and healthy again but also had regained her youth. After a few moments of talking to the locals (Princess Leia), she learned from Richard III about her current circumstances, and where she might find a place to stay. Finding an ally in Richard, Marie teamed up with him and both hatched a scheme to claim the throne of France from whoever was currently ruling the country--although she was at first reluctant to do so, wanting only to find her footing first. But first, they needed funds for their endeavor--and Marie had a secret cache that, hopefully, was still there and could be exploited to that end. Leading Richard to the Notre Dame Cathedral, Marie revealed a little hidden cubby where she had placed a small pouch filled with precious gems. Now with sufficient funds in hand, the two headed for the Opera Populaire, where Marie was able to procure a suite of rooms for herself. After sending Richard off to have one of the gems appraised, to figure out their full worth, Marie settled in and soon was asleep. The next day, after dressing in a borrowed, more modern dress, Marie met Richard and the two began to develop an almost odd rapport as they plotted together. Somehow, they lost track of one another, though they eventually met once again, both reporting on their difficulty in finding any useful information about the current rule of France. Wary of anyone overhearing their talk, Richard and Marie made their way to a cafe, and continued their scheming in a private booth. Both came to the conclusion that the only way to challenge the resident power (whatever it may be) would be to draw it out with a great show of power from themselves. To do so, however, Richard and Marie would have to bolster their currently non-existent positions in the French court, slowly regaining power and position enough to lay a claim to France itself. Using her old titles from before she was Queen, Marie would pose as a foreign (Austrian) noble and make her way into the confidences of one of the locals nobles--Henry VIII, a name Richard is all-too familiar with. Deciding it would be prudent to hide Richard (as it would be bad for the Plantagenet and the Tudor to mix it up), Marie returned to her rooms at the opera to quickly dress herself in more noble attire before she and Richard headed to the Lawrence Estate, where Henry currently resided. Once there, Marie managed to ingratiate herself with the foreign King, Richard keeping an eye out should anything untoward happen. Marie, being a rather excellent diplomat, quickly enough earned the ear of Henry, somehow managing to only have to talk her way into his good graces without having to resort to more drastic measures. During lunch days later, Marie and Richard once again discussed the direction they were heading in, having a revealing talk about relationships and ambitions as well as talking of their plot (with Richard missing on the subtle hints Marie kept dropping). The two then made plans to attend an important event, for nobles--a wedding at the De Winter household--a social occasion that would be the perfect opportunity for the two of them to rise even higher in the ranks of society. Under the guise of Marie's old name, Marie and Richard's time at Manderley was short but eventful. After discovering that they were rooming together (a shock to Richard), the two continued their secret planning while keeping a pleasant public face on with the other nobles at Manderley. The two conspirators wound up becoming a lot closer than one would think, and in the end Marie and Richard ended up being lovers. After the fire at Manderley, the two returned to France to try and seriously work on gaining more positions of power in the Parisian heirarchy. Thanks to a magical pact Richard made in secret, he and Marie one day woke up in the palace of Versailles, now crowned heads of France. Immediately, after rejoicing, they made plans for the country they now ruled. An unexpected element appeared along with Versailles--Oscar François de Jarjayes (from the anime Rose of Versailles), whose memories were a bit altered by the power of the 'verse to fit the current situation with Marie. At first, it looked as though for Marie that the same wasn't the case, but over time Marie's memories, too, changed to include Oscar, and soon the Queen was thinking of Oscar as having always been the Captain of her guard. Marie swiftly came to trust Oscar, a trust that was definitely not misplaced. Not long into Richard and Marie's rule, a revolution broke out, catching the two monarchs off-guard. Richard, wanting to get a handle on the situation quickly, wasted no time in ordering a march on the recently-erected barricades. Marie, hoping to sabotage the resistance from the inside, tasked Oscar with infiltrating the revolution and bringing it down from within. Not long after Oscar had set off to her new duties, Marie, while bathing, was kidnapped from Versailles by two revolutionairies that had been posing as servant girls. The Queen France found herself a prisoner of the revolution, held behind the barricades in the back of an old tavern. The kidnapping hadn't actually been authorized by the leaders of the revolution (Princess Leia and Enjolras), but she was kept with them nonetheless, for use as a bargaining chip with King Richard, who not long after the kidnapping had arrived with the royal forces and began his attack on the barricades. About a week into her captivity, Marie was discovered by Oscar, who after some careful maneuvering was able to set Marie free. Marie had long given up on getting out alive, thanks in part to her husband's refusal to deal with the revolutionairies for her release, and partly because of her memories of the last time there'd been a revolution that had involved her. Oscar, who had never trusted Richard to begin with, was relieved at her Queen's anger toward the man. The two escaped by way of tunnels under the city, secretly fleeing first to the Le Rouge inn, and then the following day out away from the city proper and to the isolated safety of Petit Trianon. Because of the location, and because of it's being largely known as abandoned, they were sure to be left undisturbed there. Along the way, Oscar and Marie learned of Richard's demise on the battlefield. Marie was upset, though more angry than sad, and could not really say the emotion was feeling. Petit Trianon Upon investigation, the two found the Petit Trianon to be completely deserted and abandoned--left untouched and largely ignored, by the looks of things, all during the years between Marie's death and her reappearance on the 'verse. Another hiccup presented itself as they investigated the house: the magic that made Oscar readily accept things at Versailles had begun to wear off after Richard's death, and the Captain of the guard was starting to question things. Not wanting to lie to her most loyal supporter, but afraid to tell the whole truth, Marie had to concoct a story about her faking her death in order to explain why there was nobody keeping an eye on Petit Trianon. After taking stock of the situation, it was decided that they would need to sell one of the many grand decorations of the house for funds to by the necessities. Oscar was sent out to buy what was needed, leaving Marie with a dagger to defend herself with should trouble appear. And a little after that was when Dumb Bunny arrived. While the 20th-century, inept superheroine was a tremendous oddity to Marie and Oscar both, Marie kept her on retainer as she was quite handy with her strength and menial skills--essentially, Dumb Bunny became Marie's servant. Oscar kept a modicum of suspicion, and kept a keen eye on DB. It was not to last, as Dumb Bunny soon after vanished, leaving Marie and Oscar alone with another problem: Marie was pregnant with Richard's child. Category: Sue Category:Real People